


In Another Universe

by boiledfeetbeta



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Azula (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Bisexual Ty Lee (Avatar), Closure, Confessions, Dialogue Heavy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Healing, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Making Up, Not Canon Compliant, Sad Ending, TyZula- Freeform, Way Too Much Crying, What if scenarios, azula makes an effort, ouchie, tell your gf u love her, vent - Freeform, wlw, written for international lesbian day but im too late
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26922358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boiledfeetbeta/pseuds/boiledfeetbeta
Summary: “So this is the end.”“It is.”“I didn’t imagine it like this.”~Basically what I imagine Azula and Ty Lee (sorta) making up would be like. Not canon compliant because I didn't include material from the comics bleh... anyway listen to Married Life from up while reading cause it makes it 10x sadder :)
Relationships: Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 62





	In Another Universe

**Author's Note:**

> im still taking requests   
> also happy (late) international lesbian day you are super valid  
> also VOTE if youre american
> 
> i need to keep the wlw fed

“Are you going to come?”

Ty Lee took a minute, looking at her friends’ faces. They were all nervous, sure, but they had been waiting for this moment. Her, not so much.

“Yeah, sure.” She nodded, taking Mai’s gloved hand.

“If you’re worried about riding on Appa, you don’t have to come with us!”

Aang gave her a wide smile. She shook her head.

“No, it’s okay! I’m just nervous.” She hoisted herself onto the bison with a jump and a flip. Suki clapped as she took a seat.

In the air, most of the others began to make conversation. Ty Lee scooted over to Mai and Zuko, who were unnaturally quiet.

“Hey, you guys!” She waved her hand at the couple. They waved back. “Are you excited?” She said, wide grey eyes on her friends.

“Nervous.” Zuko replied in his usual raspy voice. Mai nodded.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen her.” She rested her hand on Ty Lee’s shoulder. “She might be different. You know that, right?”

Ty Lee nodded. “Sure! But I still wanna see her.”

Mai gave her a rare smile.

“Always the optimist.”

She smiled back, trying to swallow her fear. She was not feeling optimistic.

* * *

The bison landed softly on the ground, and Ty Lee immediately wished she was back in the air. Her small hands began to shake.

“Hey, are you alright?” Katara whispered, putting a hand on her back. She nodded, but it wasn’t very convincing. “You’ve already been very brave to come all the way here. I can stay with you, if you want.”

“Thank you, Katara. But I’m fine.”

Katara smiled, squeezing the girl’s cold hand. They slid off their ride and onto the street where the rest of their friends were waiting. Sokka had opted not to come, so their group consisted of Zuko, Mai, Aang, Suki, Katara, and herself.

“Is this a prison?” Suki asked, aiming her question at Zuko. He nodded.

“Yes, but not in the way you’d assume. Think of it more like a hospital.”

A large iron gate creaked open at their arrival, a long brick path leading up to the steps. The building itself was tall, painted red and gold. Several hundred windows lined the walls, curtains drawn. A large paved courtyard with various sports related items circled the structure. No one was outside.

A guard led them inside the building, ushering the group through the hallways. It was quiet except for the soft wailing from inside each room as well as their footsteps.

“It smells like sick people in here.” Mai noted.

They stopped at a door at the end of the hall, marked _77B._ Ty Lee took a deep breath.

The nurse explained that they should go one at a time, as too many people would overwhelm her.

“Please do not raise your voice or touch her. We will be watching you through a monitor in case of an emergency, but your conversations are completely private.”

Suki opted to go first, and no one objected. She only spent about 15 minutes in the room, and she came out looking relieved. Mai was to go next, then Aang followed by Zuko.

Suki took a seat next to Ty Lee, smiling.

“How did it go?” The gymnast asked, fiddling with her hands.

“It was good. I’m glad I got some closure.” Replied Suki. “Are you nervous?”

Ty Lee nodded.

“What’s she like now?” Her voice was small.

“She’s different.”

“Yeah.”

* * *

Zuko slammed the door shut, kicking a chair as he exited the room. Ty Lee gulped. Her heart was beating so loud she was afraid everyone could hear it. She stood up slowly, her chair creaking.

She was sitting by the open window when Ty Lee opened the door. The moon was shining on her pale face, her choppy black hair blowing in the October wind.

“Azula?”

The girl didn’t look back, didn’t acknowledge her companion.

“It’s nice to hear your real voice, Ty Lee.”

She finally turned her head to the doorway. Her eyes red and tired, her face white and bony.

“You look horrible.”

“Is it pathetic?” Azula’s voice was scratchy.

“Yeah. It is.”

The firebender laughed, which quickly turned into a coughing fit. Her golden eyes were glassy, tear stains down her cheeks.

“Sit. We have a lot to catch up on.” Azula patted the spot next to her on the white bed.

“No.”

The other girl looked shocked, not used to being defied.

“Ty Lee—”

“Stop. It’s my turn to talk.” Her voice cracked. “No telling me to shut up. No interruptions. Let me talk, just this once, alright?” She quickly forgot about the nurse’s warning not to raise her voice.

“No more making me blame myself. I’m not here to forgive you. I’m not here for closure. I want to speak.”

Azula closed her mouth, pursing her lips.

“You…” Ty Lee felt her eyes welling up with tears, quickly wiping them away with the back of her hand. “You are really a monster, Azula.”

The woman looked up to say something, but Ty Lee stopped her.

“Not a day goes by where I don’t slip up. I still follow your rules sometimes. I never sit at the head of the table; I never talk out of turn. I never play the white dragon in Pai Sho. My new friends had to explain to me that it’s not normal to hit me when I talk too loud. That they should never threaten to burn me if I’m annoying. Did _you_ think that was normal, Azula? Or were you taking advantage of my innocence? You’re right—I’m not a leader. I’m a follower. That makes me an easy target, right? Right?”

She didn’t try to stop the tears anymore. Her voice was barely audible between sobs.

“I’m _sorry_ your mother liked Zuko better. I’m _sorry_ your father didn’t get you the help you needed. I’m _sorry_ your head is all messed up. I wish I could’ve met you before all of that was already hammered in your brain. But the fact of the matter is I didn’t. Maybe it’s different with the others. It probably is, isn’t it? You know you didn’t have the same kind of relationship with any of them, even Mai. You remember all the stuff I told you. Stuff I would never tell anyone else. I want to think that wasn’t nothing. I want to think that ‘ _I love you_ ’ meant _something._ Was that something you learned from your father? Was it, Azula?”

She choked out those last words, falling to her knees. Her breaths were shaky, her crying muffled by her hands.

“Did you love me?” She whispered. “ _Do you love me?”_

~

Ty Lee didn’t remember falling asleep in Zuko’s arms or being carried out of the hospital at midnight. She did vaguely remember Katara brushing her hair out of her eyes and telling her everything would be okay.

She remembered being tucked into bed and crying herself to sleep. She remembered dreaming of a dark-haired girl without a face. She remembered waking up with a scratchy throat and chills.

She remembered walking out of the palace, asking to go back. She remembered Katara and Aang’s worried glances, but them ultimately agreeing. She remembered picking up a box of red bean mochi from the kitchen before getting on Appa.

* * *

“Ty Lee, we’re here.”

The brunette looked up at her friends, their reassuring smiles filling her with determination. The building felt more friendly in the morning. It was no longer menacing, just sad. Sad and lonely.

_77B._

She twisted open the doorknob. Azula was sitting on the bed, wincing as a nurse drew blood from her arm. Her tired eyes widened as she noticed Ty Lee in the doorway. The woman in white nodded and packed up her supplies, rushing out the door.

“It’s not visiting hours.” Azula observed.

“No,” Ty Lee admitted. “It isn’t.”

She pulled a chair from the corner of the room up next to Azula’s bed. She looked even worse than the day before. Ty Lee pulled the lid off the tin of sweets, handing them to her companion.

Azula looked down at the gift, then at the gymnast.

“Why?” She asked.

Ty Lee shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry, Ty Lee. I really am. I mean it.” Azula looked too tired to keep up her nonchalant façade.

“I know.” She paused. “I don’t forgive you, you know.”

Azula nodded.

“You made my life hell. And I can’t forgive that. But I do want to fix this. I want to end on a good note.”

“So this is the end.”

“It is.”

“I didn’t imagine it like this.”

Ty Lee put her hand on Azula’s, pressing their foreheads together. She bit her lip to keep from crying.

“I meant it, Ty Lee.” Azula whispered. Ty Lee choked back tears. She put a hand on the other girl’s face, cupping her cheek. She opened her eyes, wet eyelashes pressing against her skin.

“I wanna hear you say it, Azula. Please.”

“I love you.”

Ty Lee drew in a shaky breath. She closed the space between them, pressing her lips to her ex-friend’s.

“It’s really the end, then.” Azula said, pulling away after a few seconds.

“Do you want it to be?”

“No. But it’s what’s best for you.” She brushed Ty Lee’s bangs behind her ears. “I can’t stand to hurt you anymore.”

“Do you think we could’ve ever been happy together?”

Azula laughed sadly.

“Maybe in another universe.”

“It sounds like a great universe.”

“It does.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> hi thank you Kudos and comments make my day   
> ListeN HERE BUCKo if you are american and of age please register to vote and if you are not able to PLEASE PLEASE urge those who can to do so.  
> if you don't vote/vote third party you are indirectly voting trump, and if you're reading lesbian avatar fanfic i can assume you don't want that. 
> 
> still taking requests for any wlw characters from any fandom


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